Fiestah

var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-32949603-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); Welcome to Fiestah! Fiestah is an online marketplace that connects people who plan parties and events with the right merchants they need. All they have to do is create an event on fiestah.com and then list everything they need. Merchants then bid to work on that job, giving the planner the ability to choose the best offer. Fiestah helps both sides of the planning process and best of all, it's free to sign up and use!

[fiestah]

Community love

[fiestah]

This has been such a cool experience! I am so excited to do the order tomorrow!

Jackie K

[fiestah]

If you organize events with meals and aren't using Fiestah, you need to check them out. I am becoming a rabid fan!!!

Brent W

[fiestah]

I really love the design and idea behind Fiestah. I hope it goes global, since there is such a need for this in the industry.

Teresa H

[fiestah]

Thanks for the personal email. Always nice when founders email directly. I actually found Fiestah when doing some research for an event I'm putting together. Besides software development (our main focus), I've also been planning events in NYC for a few years. I've also seen you on various tech blogs.

Anthony T

[fiestah]

An Interview With Wix Lounge's Ashley Gallman Williams

We have mentioned more than once how much we love pounding out ideas on our laptops at the creative working space Wix Lounge on 18th St. The great thing about Wix Lounge  is all the cool people we get to interact with when we work there. And there is always an event or workshop being held there, which provides even more opportunities for networking. Ashley Gallman Williams is one of the backbones of Wix Lounge. She makes sure events run smoothly and helps foster creative connections. We sat down with her to learn more about her job and Wix Lounge in general. 

What do you do?

I am the Client Relations and Events Manager for Wix Lounge. Wix Lounge hosts three to five events a week and I usually attend three of them. I am always surprised who leads me to who. We also like to help with those connections. People who work here start talking to each other and develop relationships. For example, we connected the Marketing Director of Anvil Knitwear to a startup called Ethikus. Ethikus helps NYC consumers connect with ethical and sustainable businesses and Anvil Knitwear gave out the t-shirts as a part of their shop your values week. 

What did you do before you worked for Wix Lounge?

I worked for a gallery in the Upper East Side, but I wanted to help creative people. I ran an arts non-profit exhibition at Wix Lounge. I saw what they were doing and thought it was a great opportunity.

Why do you like working at the Wix Lounge?

The amazing thing about this job is I get to help people do amazing things. The lounge functions to promote Wix.com. The same people who need a work space also need a website. Wix is better than WordPress because Wix allows for a lot of customization. Wix Lounge is a really great way for Wix to give back to the community. It is free to have an event at the Wix Lounge. Our currency isn't money, it is promotion. We have a monthly exhibition–artists with Wix– and we feature a Wix user every week in our newsletter

How would Fiestah be helpful to you?

People ask me all the time about vendor suggestions. They ask me if I can recommend a good dj in a good price range. Normally, I just list off some random djs and hope it works out. But now I can lead them to Fiestah. Fiestah helps small businesses. It's a great resource.

“Like” Fiestah on Facebook

Follow Fiestah (@theFiestah) on Twitter

Sign up at www.fiestah.com to get first access to our beta site.

[fiestah]

Fiestah Goes to the International Startup Festival in Montreal

The International Startup Festival in Montreal was full of networking opportunities, feedback, gummy bears, a party bus, pitching in an elevator and meeting the early innovators of the tech world. (Read our recent blog post If you don't know what the International Startup Festival is).

(Jon, founder of Splitwise, using our test site. )

The journey started at 8:30 AM on July 11. Barely awake, the Fiestah team and 14 other startups boarded the DOer Express bus that was heading to Montreal. Some startups were still in the concept stage while other startups had turned down two opportunities for acquisition in the name of creative control. It was a great mix of people that made for meaningful networking. 

As soon as we entered the festival we hit the ground running with our business cards in tow and got to networking. After talking to various investors and startup founders the first night we had a late night food craving. Using our rudimentary high school French we asked bystanders for directions to a great place to eat. We were about to give up when we stumbled upon the famous bar/restaurant L'Assommoire Bernard in Old Montreal. It was completely serendipitous. It just happened to be our intern's birthday that night and we wanted a special place to celebrate. 

Flippin' the Bird and a Crazy Elevator

(Prepping for the elevator pitch.)

Decked out in our new Fiestah shirts the next morning, we listened to entrepreneur and founding partner of 500 startups, Dave McClure, who was speaking at the festival. He gave great tips on being an entrepreneur like, "Aim for the moon, land on the roof." Meaning that, even if a business venture isn't a success, there is still something useful that can be taken from that "failed" experience. But the most memorable part of his talk was when he asked members of the audience to look at the person next to them and flip them off. We are not kidding! Then, he pulled someone on the stage, flipped them off and had them flip him off. Then he had the audience flip him off and he flipped us off as well. We forgot what the lesson of that exercise was, but it was hilarious to watch hundreds of people uncomfortably flip each other off, to say the least.  

Next, it was time to do our elevator pitch. Normally "elevator pitch" refers to the short summary of your product that is useful when networking and presenting to potential clients and investors. The elevator reference alludes to the brevity of the summary, it should be able to be delivered in the time it takes to ride an elevator with someone. The organizers of the International Startup Festival got a little creative and took the elevator pitch literally and had startups pitch to investors for a minute in an actual elevator! We saw this as a great opportunity for some honest feedback. We went in with a positive attitude and two ipads. The investors were so engrossed in our pitches that when the time ran out they couldn't believe it flew so fast. We took that as a good sign. 

Gummy Bears and Mentors

Because Twilio, Microsoft Azure and Sendgrid are so awesome we got to reserve a time slot for one of the tents at the festival. What most people remembered was how we got them to our tent. The day before the festival we put a Fiestah logo sticker on clear plastic bags and filled them with gummy bears to pass out as marketing swag to everyone. A couple people mistook us for a candy company, but more importantly, people knew who we were. Who says you need to spend a lot to get a lot of people talking?

When we weren't passing out gummy bears or running the tent, we were taking advantage of the resources the International Startup Festival provided. The tents we took advantage of were the Office Hour and Mentors tent. We received a lot of helpful feedback from experts in their fields.

The Bus Ride Home

By the end of the festival all the startups on the DOer Express bus became fast friends. We look forward to maintaining the connections and friendships we gained this past week and can't wait for next year's festival. On the bus ride home we discussed how we wouldn't choose to do anything else. That's what made the DOer Express bus ride so special. We were immersed in a group of people who, like us, believed in their dreams and were making it happen. You can't ask for better company than that. 

You can read more about the bus to and from the Startup Festival here.

“Like” Fiestah on Facebook

Follow Fiestah on Twitter

Sign up at www.fiestah.com to get first access to our beta site.

[fiestah]

Tech Your Wedding: Use Storify to Make A Live Wedding Guestbook

Wedding guestbooks are sometimes difficult to read and can fade over time. Ditch the traditional wedding guestbook and use social media to bring your wedding reception to the next level with Storify.

 Storify helps its users tell stories by curating social media. By gathering and organizing tweets, Instagram photos and Facebook posts of your choosing you are able to tell a linear story, something that is useful for weddings. You can assign that social media savvy niece or nephew to manage your Storify. Throughout the night they can organize tweets and photos on your Storify page. When the reception is over you will have a living Internet memory of your special night. So what are you waiting for? Here are some steps to Storify your wedding. 

Set up a Facebook page for your wedding. Instructions on how to set up a Facebook page here. You can also set up a Twitter profile for your wedding if you don't have individual profiles.

Pick a hashtag for the night. A hashtag is a way to tag a tweet that makes it easier to find topics of interest on Twitter. Picking a hashtag makes it easier to find tweets about your wedding. You can use your first names or last name for the hashtag. Ex: #BrianandJoane or #MrandMrsJohnson. Put the hashtag on the wedding invites and display the hashtag prominently at the wedding. (Hint: print the hashtag on place cards and put them on the tables). 

Encourage reception-goers to wish you well through tweets and Facebook posts on your Facebook page. People are always on their phones, so this won't be difficult for them to do,

Encourage reception-goers to take photos of the reception with their phones and upload it to your Facebook page.  

Have your social media savvy niece or nephew organize it all in one place on Storify. You can print it off and bind it at your local Kinkos (or get fancy and have it embroidered). Now you have a creative digital and print wedding guestbook that will last a long time!

Tips

Connect a laptop to a TV and show uploaded tweets and photos as a live feed at the reception. This opens the door for more creativity. You could hold tweet competitions for the best "tweet toast." 

 Print, frame and mail parts of your Storify page to wedding guests for an imaginative party favor.

“Like” Fiestah on Facebook

Follow Fiestah on Twitter

Sign up at www.fiestah.com to get first access to our beta site.

[fiestah]

If you want to succeed, you've got to be okay to just lose control

"If you want to succeed, you've got to be okay to just lose control." –Alex Ohanian, Co-founder of Reddit

That lesson proved true earlier this week. We canceled our second happy hour event (click here to see our first happy hour) prematurely on Tuesday afternoon (the happy hour was scheduled for Wednesday night). We thought it was the right thing to do because in the midst of Independence Day celebrations we figured no one would come to our Happy Hour. We canceled the event on Facebook five minutes before we saw the event was featured on BetaBeat. The event didn't technically exist and we already had people buying tickets on Eventbrite. The BetaBeat feature was completely unexpected. We cant believe that we got featured as one of the best tech events to attend in NYC! Unbelievably AWESOME! So we did what startups do, we went with the flow and uncancelled the event. We ended up hosting it at Japanese restaurant DoDompa (If you eat there, have the chicken and fried onions on rice. Everyone at the Happy Hour said it was delicious). The funny thing is that we did not know about that restaurant until last Sunday. 

That's the thing about the startup life, you never know what's going to happen. Your plans always change. Success comes from your ability to adapt. 

(Food and conversation at Dodompa)

(Eating dessert @ Dessert Truck after the HH)

Click here for more pics.

We are glad we had the event because of the networking opportunities it provided. We were able to bring together people from startups, the developing world, the finance world and other sectors. We gave advice and took advice. It was a great learning experience. And the tasty wings didn't hurt either.

As usual, 50% of the $10 ticket price went to three Global Giving charities. The ticket costs ...

- bought enough MUAC bands (a simple colour coded band to measure Middle Upper Arm Circumference), to help a Merlin health worker diagnose acute malnutrition in over 500 children.

- gave 45 kids in conflict zones EXCEL and WORD training.

- provided a street child with somewhere safe to sleep for two months.

Can you believe that by having just one networking event, we were able to make such a huge impact?

Thanks to everyone that came. We can't wait to see you at the next happy hour!

“Like” Fiestah on Facebook

Follow Fiestah on Twitter

Sign up at www.fiestah.com to get first access to our beta site.

[fiestah]

Celebrating Like It Is 1776: Fiestah's Guide to 4th of July in NYC

 Just because 4th of July is on a Wednesday this year does't mean you can't celebrate like it's 1776. Although Independence Day is normally associated with picnics, cookouts and fireworks within the comforting confines of the suburbs, there are still great Independence Day events happening in the urban jungle of New York City. 

Fireworks are better when they are illuminating the city skyline. Macy's 4th of July Fireworks is more than a grand spectacle. Not only can you see the fireworks from any area with an unobstructed view of the Hudson River, but there are also concerts. This year's performers are Katy Perry and Kenny Chesney. Make sure to claim your spots before sunset. Also, here is a great list of the best and worst places to go to see the fireworks.

There is no tradition like Nathan's International Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island. Even if you can't watch groups of men and women test their gastrointestinal limits, you can still catch the show on ESPN. 

Ahh, Prospect Park. Probably the only location in the city that doesn't feel like the city. With its towering trees it is hard to even see the skyline. Prospect Park is a great location for a 4th of July family picnic and they even have special Independence Day events to keep you educated and entertained. Don't forget to catch their 4th of July weekend concerts too!

“Like” Fiestah on Facebook

Follow Fiestah on Twitter

Sign up at www.fiestah.com to get first access to our beta site.

[fiestah]

The Only Limit Is Your Imagination: DIY Event Decorations From Pinterest

Decorations make or break a party, especially a summer party. Sometimes it can be hard to find unique decorations that will make your party stand out and leave your guests wanting more. That is why we have done the work for you. We scoured Pinterest for the most interesting diy decorations to liven up your next event.

Is there anything better than boxes of candy arranged in the shape of a cake? There is no mess and it is a great party favor for guests to take when they leave. 

No helium pump, no problem! All you need is a bottle filled with vinegar and baking soda. If you're planning a kid's birthday party just filling up the the balloons would make a fun activity. For detailed instructions and safety precautions click here.

These DIY pinwheels are great for weddings, baby showers and engagement parties. Use multicolored paper for more casual and festive events.  

Pinterest instructions read: "Put tissue paper in a mason jar, then a flameless candle (battery operated) and put lid on. Line your sidewalk or put on tables for an outdoor party."This diy decoration was made for rooftop parties, garden parties and the like. If it is a corporate outdoor event you could print your logo on tissue paper and give the jars away as party favors. That will definitely leave a lasting impression on your guests. 

Age is not just a number, it can also be a decoration! Personalize the next birthday or anniversary event you are organizing with photos in the shape of the age or year you are celebrating. 

For more diy decoration inspiration you can check out our Pinterest page. 

“Like” Fiestah on Facebook Follow Fiestah on Twitter

Sign up at www.fiestah.com to get first access to our beta site.

[fiestah]

The Pursuit of Passion: An Interview With Gaia Bagnasacco

  Meet Gaia Bagnasacco, owner of the eponymous Gaia Italian Cafe on Houston Street. Gaia Cafe is known for its authenticity and food integrity. We at Fiestah often frequent her cafe to work and eat. We always order the nutella croissant. It is the most genius thing anyone has done with nutella and croissants. We sat down with Gaia during her rare downtime to discuss her life, her cafe and her opinions about Fiestah. 

Where are you from?

I'm from Kansas City. I'm joking. I'm from Milan, Italy.

What is your specialty?

My passion is to make and give food with love. I opened Gaia Italian cafe in Febuary of last year. Before I opened the cafe I was a graphic designer, project manager and a magazine writer. I also have a degree in Literature. But after 20 years I got tired of taking orders from people. Food was always a passion in all my family. We spent so much time in the kitchen. So when I came to America I decided to follow my passion. I didn't go to culinary school, too expensive. I trained with all the traditions. First I became a personal chef for another restaurant to see if people liked my cooking. People liked my cooking so I opened a cafe. 

Where do you see the cafe in the future?

My plan is to grow. More cafes in other cities.  

What do you think of Fiestah?

Fiestah will be very successful. I don't know if there is any other website that does this. People need someone to take care of everything because they don't have the time. It is perfect. In Milan we don't have delivery, but in America delivery comes first. That's why it will be successful. It meets the core of people's needs. When you are organizing a party you don't know where to go. Fiestah opens up creativity to people because you can have whatever you want. Fiestah is like cooking– a little bit of this, a little bit of that. I want a musician or I want a caterer or whatever. 

For example, a girl came in yesterday. She saw Fiestah's flyer on the counter. I explained  the purpose of Fiestah and she said, "I need to organize a baby shower. I don't want to lose time so [Fiestah] would be useful. " I explained the process and she thought it was really good. You see with Fiestah there is this double thing for merchants and [event planners]. Then another girl came in, a singer. I told her that if she needs to sing at a wedding Fiestah would also be useful for her and her fans. 

UPDATE: We met with the singer. She is pretty cool! Her name is Danielle Elliott (@tweetsfromdani). Check out her website, tumblr and Facebook page. 

Check out the picture of us celebrating Stefanos birthday at Gaia!

“Like” Fiestah on Facebook Follow Fiestah on Twitter

Sign up at www.fiestah.com to get first access to our beta site.

[fiestah]

Summertime Kids Party Themes

Summertime is full of sunshine, festivals and idle kids. With 104 days of summer vacation ahead of you, it may seem daunting to coordinate engaging activities that will keep your children smiling. Parties are not just for birthdays anymore, so take play dates or a slow afternoon to the next level with these great summertime kids party themes.

Bake N' Eat Party

This is a great way to keep kids occupied. Give each kid their own personal baker station complete with sprinkles, colorful icing options, and candies of all shapes and sizes. You monitor the oven while they get creative with the dough and decorations. Chef’s hat and apron optional. 

Imagination Safari Party  

This is guaranteed to captivate young minds. Hire a face paint artist through Fiestah (or diy if you’re good with paint) and let each kid become an exciting animal character. Teach the kids about the different kinds of animals so that they understand how their particular animal behaves in the wild, where it lives, what it eats and how it takes care of its young. By bringing your kids on an imagination safari, you can teach them how to appreciate the animal kingdom without dragging ten five year olds to the zoo on a sweaty summer day. Decorate your party with animal-themed cakes, rubber or stuffed animals for the table and put up big fake forest tree decorations to complete the set. 

Arts and Crafts Theme Party

 There are enough mess-free products out there for you to give the kids full artistic flexibility while keeping your peace of mind about the state of your kitchen floor. Get shiny fake gems, markers, pipe cleaners, stencils, and stickers to let the kids decorate their own anything. That's the great thing about arts and crafts, the only impediment is your kids imagination and they never run out of that. Avoid messy activities like spin art or finger paintin and try tie-dying or origami instead.

If you are planning a birthday party or just a fun event, Fiestah can help you out. Use our online marketplace to choose the caterers, djs, photographers or whatever you may need!

“Like” Fiestah on Facebook

Follow Fiestah (@theFiestah) on Twitter

Sign up at www.fiestah.com to get first access to our beta site.

[fiestah]

Fiestah Has Been Selected To Go To The International Startup Festival In Montreal!

We are the chosen ones. We were selected for a free trip to Montreal during July for the International Startup Festival (sponsored by Twilio, SendGrid, and Windows Azure)! Even though we applied for it, our acceptance was still unexpected and we are so psyched for this opportunity.

For those who don't know what the International Startup Festival is, it is a 3 day annual event on the business of startups. It's like SXSW but quirkier. They have literal elevator pitches where startup founders can get in an elevator with VCs and pitch to them for 30 seconds. And in an interesting twist they also have grandmother and teenager pitches as well. It's a mix of business and fun with networking opportunities, keynote speakers and seminars.

Check out the highlights from last year's festival.

International Startup Festival 2011 from International Startup Festival on Vimeo.

As much as we are excited to go to Montreal and meet with dynamic people in the startup world, we are steadfast on making the most of this opportunity. This year's festival theme is startups that matter. We know we are a startup that matters and we are going to work very hard to make sure that everyone at the Startup Festival knows that too. Our website will launch by that time, but there is a lot of groundwork we need to lay to make sure we have our best face by the time we are in Montreal. The next three weeks will be a whirlwind of meetings, fine tuning our pitches and figuring out a way to draw people to our table.

That's where you, our lovely friends, come in. We want to arrive at the Startup Festival with a bang. What are some crazy things we could do to help us stand out? We're looking for out of the box thinking. We need something that will be unforgettable, so that by the time the event is over everyone will know what Fiestah is. You can help us out and give us some ideas by posting on our Facebook page or interacting with us on Twitter. We want to hear from you. 

“Like” Fiestah on Facebook

Follow Fiestah (@theFiestah) on Twitter

Sign up at www.fiestah.com to get first access to our beta site.

[fiestah]

Fiestah: Our passion, our life.

We know it’s an ad but that doesn’t make the message less inspiring, especially for us startups. We started Fiestah because we were tired of the corporate world and wanted our work to be synonymous with our passion. Now our site is three weeks from going live and all the months of hard work will be coming into fruition.

“The question you should be asking isn’t, ‘What do I want?’ or ‘What are my goals?’ but ‘What would excite me?’” — Tim Ferriss

This quote aptly describes what we are accomplishing right now. Creating and building Fiestah excites and rejuvenates us. It’s the reason we can work every day of the week. It is a labor of love. We are proud broadcasters of the startup life because it is non-traditional and passion-fueled.

The question is: What excites you? Are you doing it right now?

It excites us to make the event planning experience easier for merchants and consumers, and we hope it excites you to use our website for your next event. Fiestah is more than an online marketplace. We really care about what we do.

We want to create an environment of passion and spread this passion. Our platform helps freelancers get the exposure they need to be able to compete with established merchants. We are here to level the playing field. So if freelancers can get more work through Fiestah, then they can continue doing what they love, like the people in the video.

“Like” Fiestah on Facebook Follow Fiestah on Twitter

Sign up at www.fiestah.com to get first access to our beta site.

[fiestah]

Getting Our Networking On At Doreen Bloch Book Launch Party

On Wednesday, June 20 we got our networking on at Doreen Bloch's book launch party.  Doreen Bloch (@doreenbloch) is a startup strategy consultant, entrepreneur and author. Her work has been featured by The New York Times, Inc.com, The Huffington Post, Forbes, Feministing, LifeHack,The Daily Muse and more. The launch was for her new book Coolest Startups in America.

Doreen used Fiestah and was able to get two servers for the launch.

We had a great time mingling. Some people we had the wonderful opportunity to meet  were the team behind Flingo, social media strategist Idan Deutsch (@idanisreal) and Jason from Catchafire who acts as a liaison between non-profits and highly skilled volunteers. 

And we were also able to chat with Doreen Bloch, the host of the night. 

(Stefanos and Doreen)

We were introduced to Doreen at the SVB Accelerator CEO Summit 2012. Since then we have enjoyed seeing her do her thing. We had fun catching up at the book launch and can't wait to see what Doreen will do next. 

“Like” Fiestah on Facebook Follow Fiestah on Twitter

Sign up at www.fiestah.com to get first access to our beta site.

[fiestah]

Fiestah Gives Back With Proceeds From Happy Hour

Here at Fiestah we believe giving back is an essential part of business. In our last post we mentioned that 50% of the proceeds from our first Happy Hour went to charity. We were able to impact four charities with that money through Global Giving. The ticket costs helped...

sponsor a village in South Sudan for one month.

provide a child in India with education for one year.

give 600 Afghan women fast track teachers for one day.

and provide a year of computer classes resulting in a high tech job for an Afghan student.

Thanks to all the people who came to our last happy hour. We will continue to use the proceeds from our happy hour events to fund charities and make a difference.  So come to our next happy hour and see what we are up to!

“Like” Fiestah on Facebook Follow Fiestah on Twitter

Sign up at www.fiestah.com to get first access to our beta site.